Computer versus Paper-Based Reading: A Case Study in English Language Teaching Context

This research aims to determine the preference of prospective English teachers in performing computer and paper-based reading tasks and to what extent computer and paper-based reading influence their reading speed, accuracy and comprehension. The research was conducted at a State run University, English Language Teaching Department in Turkey. The participants were 96 prospective English teachers, 74 females and 22 males. Two types of data were collected in this research. First, the Questionnaire for Online Reading Comprehension was used to collect data about the participants’ views on their computer and paper-based reading activities. Second, one experiment was conducted with 14 volunteering subjects to understand their reading speed, accuracy and comprehension in both computer and paper-based reading activity. The results of the research suggested that prospective English teachers preferred paper-based reading to computer version and their performance was higher in paper-based reading than computer. The study also revealed that reading speed on a computer screen was nearly 12% faster than paper-based reading for prospective English teachers.